Abstract
BackgroundVestibular migraine (VM) has been recognized as a diagnostic entity over the past three decades. It affects up to 1% of the general population and 7% of patients seen in dizziness clinics. It is still underdiagnosed; consequently, it is important to conduct clinical studies that address diagnostic indicators of VM. The aim of this study was to assess auditory brainstem function in women with vestibular migraine using electrophysiological testing, contralateral acoustic reflex and loudness discomfort level.MethodsThe study group consisted of 29 women with vestibular migraine in the interictal period, and the control group comprised 25 healthy women. Auditory brainstem response, frequency following response, binaural interaction component and assessment of contralateral efferent suppression were performed. The threshold of loudness discomfort and the contralateral acoustic reflex were also investigated. The results were compared between the groups.ResultsThere was a statistically significant difference between the groups in the frequency following response and the loudness discomfort level.ConclusionsThe current study suggested that temporal auditory processing and loudness discomfort levels are altered in VM patients during the interictal period, indicating that these measures may be useful as diagnostic criteria.
Highlights
Vestibular migraine (VM) has been recognized as a diagnostic entity over the past three decades
Psychoacoustic evaluations are normal in most cases despite reports of hearing loss in cases of acute migraine and vestibular migraine; this hearing loss is most likely as a result of cochlear vasospasms [3,4,5,6,7,8]
The same finding was observed for the absolute and interpeak latencies obtained for the auditory brainstem response and auditory brainstem response suppression (p > 0.05)
Summary
Vestibular migraine (VM) has been recognized as a diagnostic entity over the past three decades. It affects up to 1% of the general population and 7% of patients seen in dizziness clinics It is still underdiagnosed; it is important to conduct clinical studies that address diagnostic indicators of VM. Psychoacoustic evaluations are normal in most cases despite reports of hearing loss in cases of acute migraine and vestibular migraine; this hearing loss is most likely as a result of cochlear vasospasms [3,4,5,6,7,8] Specific auditory symptoms such as phonophobia (vestibular migraine and migraine without aura diagnosis criteria) and hearing loss and tinnitus (brainstem migraine with aura diagnosis criteria) suggest impairment of auditory pathways in migraine cases [2].
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